DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO  Criticism of Mayor Bob Filner’s decision to target a political rival’s office for cuts overshadowed the praise he received Monday for a proposed budget plan that addresses homelessness and bolsters public safety.

Filner’s call to slash $1.4 million from City Attorney Jan Goldsmith’s office budget was easily the most provocative of the mayor’s proposals given the growing animosity between the two officials. They’ve sparred over several civic issues since Filner took office Dec. 3 and aren’t on speaking terms, a status that isn’t likely to be changed with a budget ax.

The mayor’s plan to close a $38.4 million deficit in the city’s $1.2 billion operating budget didn’t include any other significant cuts.

Filner defended the decision to cut the equivalent of 13 full-time positions in the City Attorney’s Office. He pointed to the increase in the office’s $43.6 million budget and 346-member staff since 2009 while significant cuts were made elsewhere.

“As I said we tried to adjust that department with all the other departments over the years that had seen decreases,” Filner said. “The city attorney had not (seen decreases) and we wanted to bring that more in line. … The attorney could adjust those savings in any way he wants and he has said on a couple occasions as long as you don’t tell me where I have to make the cuts it’s fine.”

Yes
77% (390)

No
23% (116)

506 total votes.

Goldsmith said the mayor identified specific individuals in his office that would be laid off in detailed backup information.

“While we understand the mayor has made public statements to the effect that specific cuts to the city attorney’s budget would be up to the city attorney, those statements don’t explain why the mayor has taken the unusual step of identifying people by name to be laid off and eliminating their job positions,” Goldsmith said. “We are certainly willing to work with the City Council on our budget, as we have each year. But, if we need to reduce our budget, we will not allow the mayor to decide who gets laid off. Under the city charter, we are an independent office and we will make those decisions.”

At least one of the 13 city attorney employees whose job would be eliminated said he felt he was being personally targeted by Filner for standing up to him.

Executive Assistant City Attorney Andrew Jones, Goldsmith’s second-in-command, said he has shut down meetings with Filner in which the mayor treated attorneys poorly by shouting and screaming at them.

“He’s (verbally) attacked me in closed session to the extent that at one point he asked if I would sit in the back of the room,” said Jones, who is black. “I, of course, considered it something similar to asking Rosa Parks to sit in the back of the bus. I was extremely offended by it but in deference to my boss I decided not to make a big deal out of it. But clearly he has a problem with me. I’m not sure why.”

Filner, a longtime civil rights activist, participated in the famous Freedom Rides as a college student in 1961.

Others offered harsh criticism of the proposed cuts.

“The mayor’s proposal to cut the budget of the City Attorney’s Office appears to be nothing more than political retribution,” said T.J. Zane, president and CEO of the pro-business Lincoln Club. “… I urge the City Council to reject Mayor Filner’s attempt at bullying and, instead, provide the funds necessary for City Attorney Jan Goldsmith to protect the interests of San Diego taxpayers.”

Council President Todd Gloria, a Democrat like Filner, released a statement saying he found the proposed reduction to the Republican city attorney’s budget “curious and unlikely to be implemented as proposed given the council’s preference to limit the use of outside counsel.”

The mayor’s first budget proposal included a lot more than the city attorney cuts. It reflects his campaign promises to improve public safety, focus on neighborhoods and provide help to the less fortunate.

The budget calls for the year-round funding of an emergency homeless shelter, discounted bus passes for school-age children, new computers at branch libraries, additional funding for the arts and financial assistance for some of the city’s oldest retired workers. The mayor is also setting aside an extra $4 million for public safety spending that will expand the number of police recruits per academy, bolster lifeguard and fire dispatch staffing and acquire a $500,000 cliff rescue vehicle.

The homeless shelter, operated by Alpha Project, is typically open from November to March annually. Filner extended it by three months this year and now wants to fund it year-round at a cost of $1.3 million.

Bob McElroy, president and CEO of the Alpha Project, said he remains hopeful the council will approve the funding.

“It’s really a blessing for us every day that we get,” he said of Filner’s decision. “That’s just a tremendous paradigm change that I’ve seen since he’s been in office. … Even if this gets shot down, at least we have hope and we feel like we have an advocate for us (at City Hall).”

One criticism of Filner’s budget is that it relies heavily on one-time moneys — including a nearly $22 million fire settlement with San Diego Gas & Electric — to close the budget deficit.

Councilman Kevin Faulconer said that method fails to live up to the fiscal discipline adopted at City Hall in recent years and that the mayor “repeats the mistakes of City Halls past.”

Filner’s predecessor, Jerry Sanders, used one-time moneys to close gaps in all but his final budget during his seven years in office.

The council will now review the budget proposal over the next few months and make additions and subtractions before they finalize it in June, subject to a mayoral veto.